On Thursday, sports apparel company Adidas announced it’s teaming up with Twitter on a campaign called She Breaks Barriers in honor of International Women’s Day. The platform will livestream women’s high school sports in order to bring more visibility to athletes. “When she is seen, she breaks barriers,” Adidas tweeted. The ad continues: “People, we’re out here heart and soul, but you can’t see us. If girls don’t see women in sport, they won’t stay in sport.”
Featured in the campaign is USA Women’s National Team/Utah Royals FC Club defender Becky Sauerbrunn, a St. Louis native. Sauerbrunn played youth soccer for J.B. Marine, and helped the team win four Missouri State cups while she was on the roster.
In her video, Sauerbrunn talks about coming back to the United States after winning the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada, which was the most-watched soccer game—men’s and women’s—in the U.S., and facing a pay disparity with the prize money. It jumpstarted a passion for putting women in the same stadiums and on the same platforms as male athletes. Sauerbrunn says that she hopes girls, no matter where they’re from, can see themselves reflected in athletes on TV.
You can watch Sauerbrunn’s video here:
The women’s national team recently wrapped up the She Believes Cup, and will head to France to play in the FIFA Women’s World Cup this summer. They’re recognized as one of the best soccer teams in the world. Since the FIFA Women’s World Cup began in 1991, only four countries have won the seven top honors. Team USA won in 1991, 1999, and 2015, making them the country with the most wins. They’re also the defending champions. Before leaving for Europe, the team will play New Zealand in a match at Busch Stadium on May 16.
Sauerbrunn talked with St. Louis Magazine in 2015 as part of an advice package. Here’s what she had to say:
“The best advice I’ve ever received is to always be ready. I was first called in to the [U.S. Women’s Soccer] National Team after my last college season. I went to camp and did well enough to make my first tournament roster in China. I played in two games and thought I had done pretty well, until I was told the team was letting me go. I was crushed. I had briefly experienced my dream, only to have it taken away. My college coach told me I could do two things: work my tail off and get back to the team or accept that my dream was too lofty and aim for something more ‘realistic.’ I chose the former, and he said I would have to be ready at any moment if the team called me back. It took two years, and even then I was called in as an alternate at the last second, because someone went down injured. Luckily, I was ready. I made the most of that opportunity and haven’t looked back. I achieved my dream and helped my team win a World Cup this past summer.”
